UFC 182 begins with Marion Reneau dominating Alexis Dufresne

Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

UFC 182 kicked off with Marion Reneau‘s (5-1) comprehensive domination of Alexis Dufresne (5-2). Reneau, who was debuting in the UFC, outclassed Dufresne so completely commentator Joe Rogan literally yelled for the fight to be stopped. However, it was not, and after 15 minutes, Reneau won by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the bout 30-26 and one judge scoring it 30-25. Dufresne missed weight by three pounds on Friday, making her second fight in the Octagon a catch-weight, as was her first. In her debut in the UFC against Sarah Moras, Dufresne weighed in eight pounds heavy. In that fight, she appeared to tire early, remaining largely on top and largely inactive, while Moras was so active on bottom she got a unanimous decision win. The speculation is that weight cuts are affecting Dufresne’s performance, and her fight against Reneau could serve as evidence of that. She appeared to tire quickly and her performance deteriorated rapidly, until she was not dissimilar to a human punching bag. She kept her hands up, relatively speaking, but was making very few attempts to defend by the end, and even fewer attempts at offense. Rogan had been saying he thought the fight should be called since the end of the second, and by the end of the third, he was shouting into his mic that the ref step in.

Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Given Dufresne’s failure to make weight in both of her UFC fights by quite a bit, two losses, and two lackluster performances, her future seems murky – if not whether she stays in the UFC, then whether she’ll see any success. Because, at her weigh in on Friday, where she was the lightest we’ve seen her, it didn’t look like she could afford to lose much else without potentially sacrificing muscle. And if her performance at UFC 182 was any indication, actually making 135 could prove brutal on her.

Dufresne’s performance shouldn’t be considered reflective on Reneau’s skills. Reneau looked sharp and fast, showing good instincts, although she seemed to err on the conservative side in her aggression. When the bell rang at the end of the fight, Reneau knew she had won, and was already looking forward to her next fight. In her post-fight interview with Rogan, she said, “I earned this. Who’s next?!”